Rochester Man Charged with Copyright Infringement

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Eugene DeBerger, 59, of Rochester, N.Y., was charged by criminal complaint with knowing infringement of copyright for purposes of private financial gain. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, between January 2007 and August 2010, the defendant bought legal copies of DVD movies and burned copies on his home computer. DeBerger then sold over 7,000 copies online at a greatly reduced price.

Today’s charges are part of a larger department-wide effort led by the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property (IP Task Force). Attorney General Eric Holder created the IP Task Force to combat the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property crimes, protect the health and safety of American consumers, and safeguard the nation’s economic security against those who seek to profit illegally from American creativity, innovation and hard work. The IP Task Force seeks to strengthen intellectual property rights protection through heightened criminal and civil enforcement, greater coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement partners, and increased focus on international enforcement efforts, including reinforcing relationships with key foreign partners and U.S. industry leaders. To learn more about the IP Task Force, go to http://www.justice.gov/dag/iptaskforce/.

The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the special agents from Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Christopher M. Piehota, Special Agent in Charge.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.